Blog Tag, with a literary twist

Happy Friday! Generally I don’t participate in blogger awards/blog tag/etc., but Tanya from Green Paw-Paw tagged me in a round and asked some fun literary/bookish questions, so I’m making a semi-exception and answering them. Feel free to share your own answers!

1. If you had the power to ban a certain book, or certain kinds of books, however productive the outcome may be (think Twilight or Oliver’s Story), even if you knew a huge majority of readers might thank you for it, would you?

I wouldn’t, even though it would be very tempting. Not everyone has the same taste in books, and I liken books like “Twilight” to gateway drugs. They bring in people who otherwise wouldn’t be picking up a book at all, and then BAM! New readers everywhere!

2. What is one book you wish you had written?

Hmm… a book that already exists, or one that hasn’t been written yet? If we’re going for the latter, I think a story about two characters from parallel worlds or perhaps just two different cultures meeting in virtual reality and learning to understand each other might be fun. One of these days maybe I’ll get the confidence to write it.

3. You have finally achieved world domination and as new king/queen of the world, you need to fashion yourself a crown. But of course, you’re too cool for precious metals and the like. What would your crown be/be made of?

Polished driftwood, and if I’m allowed any gemstones then accents of Baltic amber. Fossilized tree sap is pretty, and I feel like it would give the whole thing a somewhat Elven touch.

4. Have you ever wondered how a doggie biscuit tastes and wanted to try?

That’s one thing that’s never crossed my mind, mostly because they smell kind of gross.

5. Is there a book that you weren’t able to complete for whatever reason, but lied about it and told people you did? Which one?

No, but I will admit that I had to read the Sparknotes after reading Faulkner’s “The Sound and the Fury” before I understood what was going on. Then I re-read it because once I knew what was happening I thought it was genius.

6. Your choice of instant pick-me-up food?

Borscht. With beets. One of my close friends often tries to convince me that beetless Ukrainian borscht is superior, but I disagree. It’s fantastic, but with beets it would be so much better.

7. If there was an appendage you could add to the human anatomy (wings, talons, a tail…), what would it be?

Definitely wings. I did a stint on Second Life back when it first came out, and no matter what other things I did to my character, she was always winged. Bonus points if the wings are sensitive to touch and can flutter a bit in the wind.

8. If you could go back in time and stop a famous event from taking place, what would it be and why?

I’d stop Columbus from coming to America. I’ve always been fascinated by Native American civilizations, and I’d love to see how they’d have developed if Europeans hadn’t decimated their continent and wiped out their populations and cultures. That might also be a neat premise for an alt history book.

9,10,11. All the book characters you’ve ever loved are people in your immediate friend circle. Who would you turn to:

a) to make a bucket list with you and go all over the world fulfilling each item on the list?

This one’s easy enough. Ford Prefect seems like a natural choice. We’d have grand adventures, but wouldn’t quite remember them after all the Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters.

b) to plonk down next to you on that patch of moon land you guys bought, feel awesome, and somehow keep each other from dying of boredom until the next space shuttle comes to pick you up?

Wait, I can afford land on the moon? Holy shit. That must mean that I’ve got a good job, maybe even one with benefits!

c) when the world thinks you’re responsible for the attack on the entire human race by some random scary evil alien monsters and you are the only one who knows what they want but nobody will listen to you and you need somebody to help you save the world?

Kaladin from Brandon Sanderson’s “The Way of Kings.” He’s got a knack for surviving situations that he shouldn’t and defeating impossible odds, which could be incredibly useful when trying to save the world from creatures that would make Cthulhu like a fluffy kitten.

Borscht is delicious. Beets are one of those veggies that get a bad rap for no reason whatsoever; they’re sweet and nutritious at the same time, and have such a lovely flavor. And after writing this post, now I’m hungry for borscht, but I don’t have any of the ingredients… darn…

Part of the reason why I haven’t gotten around to reading 50 Shades of Grey yet is that I’m afraid that I’ll like it despite the fact that I’ve heard that it’s poorly written.

Good answers. I will also admit to reading and enjoying the Twilight books – except for No.4 (which I think was actually written by an alien). I did read 50 Shades of Grey and thought it was potentially the most annoying book I can remember – but clearly I’m not in the majority there!
Beetroots are lovely – never had Borscht though. Should give it a try!
Lynn 😀

Thanks! I’ll let you know when I’ve started reading 50 Shades what I think of it. I wasn’t going to bother with it at all, but I have a copy of a parody and feel like it isn’t fair to read/review a parody without reading the original first. 🙂

I did once accidentally eat a dog treat when I was a child. I immediately spat it out. It’s not pleasant. As for Twilight, since that seems a topic of discussion, I agree it’s “gateway” fiction. I read the first book, enjoyed the first half, and was tolerant of the second. I haven’t been able to read through the second.
Also, I’d like to own land on the moon too.

Land on the moon would be awesome. Mars would be even better. I’ve been obsessed with Mars lately because when I get insomnia I watch a lot of documentaries.

Goosebumps is another good series for gateway fiction. If you read them as an adult you notice that the writing’s terrible and you wonder what the appeal was as a kid, but those were the books that got everyone to read back in the day…

My pets as a kid were fish and hermit crabs because I’m allergic to everything that moves, and their food didn’t resemble anything edible. One looked like crayon-shavings and the other came in foul-smelling pellet form.

Yes! That’s exactly how I feel! I’d never ban a book, no matter how much it annoys me personally. Just as long as it gets people reading, who wouldn’t otherwise. I think once you’re hooked onto reading, you keep looking for more, and (maybe) somewhere down the line, your tastes change and to quote you, “BAM!” =)
I LOVE your crown choice. Put some thought into that, have we? 😉

Thanks! The crown question was one of my favorites that you asked. 🙂
I love seeing people discover that reading is fun and magical. There’s something special about the books that draw them in, even if the writing isn’t as good as I’d like it to be.

I agree. You brought up Goosebumps – I have a friend that hated Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl, but loved R.L.Stine. I liked Goosebumps too, for a while, but grew out of it pretty quick. But that’s what got her reading, and after working at a book store for a month, I’ve found that that’s what gets a lot of kids reading. Also, the whole set of Disney kids books? I’m not talking the fairytale stuff – this is the Hannah Montana nonsense. But kids read them, and there aren’t a lot of those, so they go looking for other things to read, and sooner or later they stumble upon something I might approve of. So I can’t complain, really. At least they’re reading.

That’s what I’m talking about. The books reeled me in, and I couldn’t sleep until I’d polished them all off, but there were times I yelled at the book. She had so many interesting things going for her – and the Peeta/Gale thing felt like really frustrating speed bumps. That, and Katniss annoyed me a little. Sometimes. Okay, a lot.
What normally grips me are the characters, but that wasn’t the case with this trilogy. (I do love Haymitch and Finnick, though.)

This was interesting. Ban a book,….hmmm. Until 50 shades of Idiocy hit the market this would never have been a concept for me but, this book tickles something in me that makes me really, really mad. It’s badly written, anti-feminist to the core, repetitive and not even erotic. (I’ve read excerpts and the beginning on the amazon page). It’s beyond lame. Before they could publish it in Germany, they had to rewrite it as it was far too tame for the German market. There is a newspapare article in which you can read the “hottest bits” and not only does she say “Holy Cow” or “Oh my” all the time.
Funny enough I liked Twilight. It’s much better written….
I like beet root but don’t think I’ve ever had Borscht….
my ex-boyfriend had a horrible doggie biscuit incident. He didn’t look at the pack on the table, ripped it open and … I know now for a fact that they taste very oily and disgusting.

I haven’t read 50 Shades yet, but I will be doing so in the near future, as I’ve got a copy of a parody that looks like it will be highly entertaining and feel bad reading parodies before reading whatever they’re based on. I’m gonna give the book a chance because I know a lot of people who loved it, and I want to at least know what everyone’s talking about.

I got hooked on borscht when I studied abroad in Russia. Russian food always felt like comfort food to me because my family has a Polish background and most Eastern European food is very similar. Unfortunately, it also takes significantly more time to prepare than American food, so I don’t make it very often…